Under threat from the Maoists, and jailed by the police, AAP's Soni Sori plunges into the election for all she holds dear. Aman Sethi reports
Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links. Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi. Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Here are their brief profiles:
The move comes as the intra-party feud reached climax in the ruling NCP which has been witnessing months long tussle between two factions, one led by 68-year-old Oli and Party's chairman and another led by 66-year-old 'Prachanda', also the executive chair of the party and former premier.
Some of the letters exchanged between the arrested activists spoke of planning 'some big action' which would attract attention, Singh said.
For a country with a huge atheist vote bank, relatively few claim to be irreligious, says Devangshu Datta
The Shiv Sena on Monday refused to call off the protest against the book launch of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri in Mumbai.
She also alleged that police has been forcing some people to name them in someway since May.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in tribal Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday for the coming state election asked "Marxist friends" not to vote for either the CPI-M or Congress, who are "cohorts of the communal BJP".
Lovingly made, heartfelt stories that speak the truths about our lives.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah will on Monday launch a 15-day march in Kerala to target the state's Communist Party of India-Marxist government with the BJP accusing the Left party of being on a "killing spree" against its workers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Friday that some local news channels had ganged up with the opposition to make a hue and cry over rape and violence in the state and reiterated that there was a conspiracy to kill her.
An SIT officer probing the murder case said the investigation is in final stage and a chargesheet will be filed in two months.
With his exit, the TMC will lose a crucial, politically influential vote catcher in the Jungalmahal region and areas in minority-dominated Murshidabad, and the BJP will get a face it badly needs, especially in rural Bengal, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Though General Naravane's visit will not deal with 'impermanent' issues like the changing stands of politicians, it will certainly reinforce the deeper 'permanent' links between the people of Nepal and India. Time will hopefully tackle the present impermanence of the Sino-Nepalese romance, notes Claude Arpi.
The complainant had claimed that Sundar and others had visited Nama village and asked Shamnath to support the naxal cause
Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh refuses to 'retreat in the face of threats'.
Amid chants of Buddhist scriptures, Nepal PM K P Sharma Oli on Monday offered prayers at an ancient temple in Kathmandu to mark the reconstruction of five heritage sites demolished by last year's deadly earthquake.
An outstanding student, the Politburo member has emerged as a leader with considerable skills of political negotiations.
Ravindra Shukla picks out his best option.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
Bindu and Kanakadurga, who broke centuries-old tradition by entering the holy shrine, said there were no objections from the devotees and called those who were protesting riot-mongers.
'Sridhar had the ability to paint a vision, for an activist faced with the toughest personal problems so as to see a way out by combining one's personal desires with the needs of the movement.' Arun Ferreira remembers his fallen comrade Sridhar Srinivasan.
'Anybody and everybody who opposes this government for whatever reasons will be branded a terrorist and charged in such a manner that all human rights will be taken away.'
To Kanu Sanyal, the world consisted of two things -- right and wrong. There was no in between. Inspired by hardcore radicalism, Sanyal was someone who would fight till his last breath. Which is why I am startled by his suicide. Why would someone who was willing to lay down his life for others hang himself? What ailed him?Was it his own disillusionment or his frustration at the failure of a movement that he and his friends laid down their lives for?
The CPI-M leader also demanded the setting up of a House Committee to examine the latest developments in various central universities.
Mukherjee said the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including economic and commercial cooperation, was reviewed during the the meeting.
Kerala Union of Working Journalists decided to boycott the press meets called by the BJP after saffron party workers attacked mediapersons.
All Naxal-affected states demonstrate police as well as governance incapacities. Odd occasions of success and temporary dip in Naxal violence notwithstanding, the states have utterly failed to dominate and make their presence felt over areas under the extremist domination, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
'The rise of IS and intolerant Wahabism are the real dangers to Indian democracy and pluralism, not the RSS,' says Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay.
Pune police on Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them -- poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.
She wondered why PM Modi is not removing his own cabinet secretary or the Union home secretary, if he was so 'fond of making last-minute changes'.
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
In the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 23, 116 seats spread across 13 states and two Union Territories, will go to the polls.
One can expect that the formation of Telangana will have more positives than negatives. The 'Telangana effect' has already prompted demands for a separate Vidarbha and break up of Uttar Pradesh. This needs to be considered seriously as this can only lead to deepening governance, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'I cannot conceive of any reason than my unsparing criticism of government policies that the government picked me to send a message to many who dare to take it on.'
The Trinamool Congress on Monday appeared set to sweep the crucial panchayat poll in West Bengal with a huge margin in most of the districts, taking a comfortable lead in gram panchayat in 12 of 17 districts.
'They (the government) want to tame everything.' 'The entire systems they are trying to change.'
'The power of love is the greatest power in the world.' 'Add a smile and you can conquer the world,' Bengali actor June Maliah, the Trinamool Congress's candidate for the Medinipur constituency, tells Swarupa Dutt/Rediff.com.
'This has always been a trend by the ruling party, that they give assurances but never fulfill it.' 'The BJP is known for it as it is their character.' 'They agree when the farmers' movement is on, but turn their backs when the farmers leave.' 'We have to keep a constant pressure on the government for our demands.'
He is neither a victim of the violence that broke out at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018 nor an eye-witness to it. Yet, Bhimrao Bansod testified for a full 14 days before the judicial commission of inquiry set up to inquire into the violence.
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